The present invention is directed toward a food carton, and more specifically, toward a flat glued food carton which, when erected, has a rounded or generally cylindrical lower portion adapted to fit into a vehicle cup holder.
French fries, onion rings, and similar fast food products (hereinafter referred to generally as xe2x80x9cfinger foodsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cfoodsxe2x80x9d) that can be eaten with one""s fingers are popular restaurant carry-out items. Not infrequently, these foods are eaten in an automobile by the consumer away from the restaurant, often along with other food items, such as hamburgers and beverages.
Most automobiles, in order to accommodate containers for such foodstuffs are provided with one or more cup holders. Such cup holders have traditionally been used to accommodate beverage cups and bottles with cylindrical lower portions.
However, a problem arises with regard to how best to accommodate conventional finger food cartons which, when filled, are generally of an oval or scoop-like configuration with an oval or oblong lower portion not readily accommodatable within the conventional vehicle cup holder. Thus, if the driver of the vehicle wishes to avail himself of the finger food, there is no convenient way to hold the carton, or any convenient place to put the carton, the only options available being either to continuously hold the carton in one hand or lay the carton down on an adjacent seat, tray portion, or the like.
This problem could be addressed by serving the finger food in conventional beverage cups. However, such cups, normally including rolled rigidifying upper rims and water-tight sealed bottoms, neither of which are required for finger food containers, are substantially more expensive than the conventional scoop carton for many reasons including the use of thinner materials in scoop cartons and the ease with which such cartons can be formed as flat items for both shipping and storage economies. It is also to be recognized that the conventional scoop configuration of the upper portion of a scoop carton provides significant advantages in simplifying the filling of the carton.
Some attempts have been made to produce food cartons with cylindrical lower portions. This has resulted in two types of containers, a first type wherein a pre-formed container is utilized. Such containers are formed as a fully erected container at the time of manufacture, somewhat similar to a drinking cup. Note commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,403, issued Apr. 25, 2000, to Liming Cai. Such containers, while suited for their intended purpose, cannot be collapsed and must be shipped and stored in a stacked, nested state. Thus, such formed cartons tend to be more expensive and less practical from a commercial standpoint.
A second proposal has involved the development of folded food cartons which open to form a generally rectangular or rounded lower portion. However, these cartons also have encountered various problems. For example, such cartons often have undesirably large gaps between their bottom and side walls, which gaps tend to allow small food items to fall from the container. Some attempts to minimize the size of the openings between the bottom and side walls have involved providing a bottom wall formed with multiple layers of paperboard material or a bottom wall of a complex array of cut lines, fold lines and perforations. Thus, such cartons also tend to be too expensive to produce economically, and in some instances are difficult to erect. It should be appreciated, in this regard, that such cartons are throw-away items which are used by the thousands. Thus, even small economies can be significant.
The present invention is concerned with the provision of an improved finger food carton which incorporates the advantages of flat-formed cartons with regard to shipping and storage, as well as economies in manufacture, while at the same time, significantly improving thereon in providing for accommodation of the filled carton within conventional vehicle cup holders and the like. In conjunction therewith, the carton of the invention, while flat-formed and expandable in a convenient manner, incorporates a unique bottom or bottom wall construction which minimizes gapping, stabilizes the lower portion of the carton in a generally cylindrical configuration, and is easily expanded from the original folded position thereof to its position in the erected carton.
Basically, the carton includes, as manufactured and prior to opening into its use position, overlying front and rear tapered side walls interconnected at the lower or base ends thereof by a centrally folding bottom or bottom wall. The wall relationship is such whereby an inward pressure on the opposed tapered upright or vertical edges of the front and rear walls will produce an outward bowing of these walls relative to each other to define an upwardly directed conical or scoop configuration. As this occurs, the depending centrally folded bottom wall upwardly flexes between the lower edge portions of the side walls into a slight upward convex configuration which locks the walls in the open position of the carton. The bottom wall is so peripherally configured as to retain the lower edge portions of the side walls in a rounded or substantially cylindrical configuration adapted for reception within a cup holder. The side walls in turn, upward from the cylindrical lower portion thereof, and in light of the line joined vertical edges thereof, tends to broaden transversely into a general scoop configuration at the upper portion of the container to thus retain the scoop features of known fry containers along with the advantages of the cup-shaped lower portion.
The bottom wall is specifically configured to close the bottom of the open carton in a manner which not only ensures the stability of the open carton, but also minimizes any gaps therein. In this regard, the overall configuration of the bottom is such as to force and retain the lower peripheral edge portion of the two side walls into a substantially circular configuration. Pursuant thereto, the bottom includes, in addition to the transverse center fold, a second central fold line perpendicular thereto and extending between opposed end edges of the bottom which integrally join the front and rear side walls respectively along fold lines. The side edges of the bottom wall are each formed by a pair of linear lengths or extents which converge outwardly from corresponding ends of the end edges of the bottom wall to an apex on the transverse fold line, forming what might generally be referred to as an angular convex side edge. Each of these side edges, and an arcuate segment of the bottom wall adjacent thereto, tends to flex as the bottom wall moves into its open position, through engagement of the corresponding outer side edges of the bottom wall with the side edge portions of the front and rear walls, flexing slightly downward relative to the upwardly moving bottom wall to encourage a more intimate engagement with the side wall and to reduce any gapping therebetween. To enhance this flexing and more specifically define the arcuate segments, an arcuate fold line can be provided in the bottom wall inwardly spaced from each side edge and generally parallel to the corresponding side edges.
While the preferred embodiment of the carton utilizes a blank wherein the front and rear wall panels are positioned in the blank with the lower or base wall edges in parallel slightly spaced relation with the single ply integral bottom wall panel interposed therebetween, as a second embodiment, the carton can be formed utilizes a blank wherein the front and rear wall panels are integrally joined inside-by-side relation with a single fold line therebetween and utilizing a single glue flap. In such a blank, the bottom wall will be formed of two partially overlapped plies, one integral with the lower edge of each side wall panel.
Other objects, features and details of the invention will become apparent from the following more complete description of the invention.